My Unfocused Life

The big news on Comedy Central this evening was Glenn Beck’s interview with Rep Eric Massa where the congressman contradicted his public statements on a program heralded by Beck as proof of misconduct by the Democratic party. At the end of the program, Glenn Beck apologized to American for wasting our time.

So I ask, if CNN is trying to re-establish their credibility as “The Most Trusted Name in News”, what the fuck were they thinking when they put Glenn Beck on Headline News. Folks, changing the name to HLN doesn’t make us forget that the station is CNN Headline News. What the Fuck were you folks thinking? Did you get rid of that crazy bitch Nancy Grace?

Every time I come across CNN being showcased on the big LG screen at my airport departure gate, I think to my self, “This isn’t news, it’s a bunch of crazy fucks from CNN.”

I don’t consider the health care bill passed by the house to be a success. Fuck you Nancy Pelosi for letting this go through.

I am registering as an independent.

This was once my favorite time of year. Not the cold winter part of the season, but the time between Hannuka and Christmas, and my birthday. It was a great sequence of events. First, the 8 days of Hannuka where my siblings and I would get a present every evening. Next, we would to downtown Pittsburgh and visit the animated displays in the windows of Kauffman’s department store. Then I would have a 30 day reprieve from excitement, only to resume the first week of February.

This year I will be having a milestone birthday. It will be the final one in my forties as I make the long march towards old age. I never remember the feeling of entering a new decade, but have strong feelings as I leave one. It has to do with retrospection. When I reach the end, I try to evaluation how well I spend the past 10 years. Did I leave my mark on society and improve my own life, or did I fritter it away on mindless rote.

The past 10 years have been well spent. I grew and peaked in my career, and spent much of them on personal growth. I finally started addressing my obstacles and working towards my own personal goals. While my marriage did not survive these changes, I grew closer to my ex-wife and developed a strong and enduring friendship. We left behind our joint life, and became family. She is the sister I always wanted, but never really had. The one person in life, besides my girlfriend, who watches out for my best interests despite of my shortcomings.

My forties also gave me the opportunity to explore my own ideas and love and relationship. I spent their final three (3) years meeting new women and discovering my own wants, needs, and expectations from a love. I also discovered that when given the opportunity I am a loving, and caring lover. These discoveries lead me to my current relationship with my girlfriend, which is everything I ever wanted from someone else.

I don’t know what the fifties will bring, but I have another year to try and sort that out. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy this year’s birthday. It is a celebration of my persistence and perseverance, and my own appreciation for the human spirit.

Today is Monday, the day after New Years. I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2006. May all your favorite wishes come true.

I noticed that the trend this year for bloggers is to post your New Year’s resolutions in your blog and announce them to the world. I have never, ever, ever made New Year’s resolutions and I am not about to start now. Maybe I will make a resolution to make a resolution next year, but that is as far as I am going to go.

I am very tired today ‘cuz I didn’t get much sleep last night. My girlfriend’s son wanted to come home early from his visit with his father in New Jersey, butwas unable to get a seat on the Acelera train from New York. So he did the next best thing and booked a seat on the New York to Boston Greyhound bus. He was expected to arrive at 10pm ensuring us an early visit by the sandman. Unfortunately, the night didn’t work out that way. His bus broke down two hours outside of New York and he sat by the side of the road for 3 hours while Greyhound tried to figure out how they were going to get everyone home. I know that bus travel isn’t rocket science, but it does take time to find another bus and then move it to the right roadside stop. Eventually he arrived in Boston at 1:00am and after a short wait and Taxi ride he made it home at 1:26am.

Now I realize that I may sound a little snobby, but outside of a junior high school trip to Washington DC, summer camp, and weekly school ski trips from Pittsburgh to Somerset PA, I have never taken a intercity bus. I have taken trains and plane and experienced my share of travel delays due to faulty equipment. Once I was even on an aircraft that suffered a malfunction in the air and almost made an rough emergency landing. However, the one constant aboutall my plane and train travel is that I have never been stuck outside on the side of the road waiting for my next ride. I am pretty positive I am not going to give anyone a chance to make that nightmare a reality. As great as the $30 roundtrip bus fare to New York sounds, I’ll stick to the Delta shuttle or Amtrak Acelera train. If the Acelera breaks down, at least I’ll have power for my laptop, a bar car, and the Internet. Think of the postings I could make drunk from the train. Kinda like drunk dialing, only bigger.

Sometimes life gives you unexpected surprises that both pleasant and dismay at the same time. Our trip to Lisbon was wonderful. The weather was wetter than we anticipated, but still warm and sunny most of the time. Showers never seem to last longer than half and hour and quickly give way to sunshine. Lisbon is a beautiful city with a lot of history and culture. While much of the city was destroyed in fires and earthquakes, many of the original buildings remain. Some of the more historical buildings have been restored and renovated, but many still bear the marks of age and trauma.

What dismayed us was that amount of graffiti that covers much of the city and suburbs. Everywhere we went both new and historical buildings were covered with the words of teen angst and disenfranchised youth. It was everywhere; in tourist areas, the subway, and on the sides of builds in the cities most prestigious shopping streets. Unlike other European cities that have been rebuilt and gentrified, Lisbon has retained much of its an old world charm. It’s ashame that charm is covered in spray paint.

Everything produced in Portugal and sold locally was inexpensive. This included leather goods, food, and wine. Restaurants offered dinner entrees at prices ranging from 7 to 25 Euros. Portions are very large and too much for a single person. We typically ordered one dinner and shared it between the two of us. Even when split in half and served for two, the dinner was too much for us to finish. If we were back in Boston, a quarter of what we ordered would have made it back home in a doggy bag. A portion is twice what is served in an American restaurant. With wine, dessert, and after dinner port, we did not spend more than 45 Euros for a complete meal. On most nights we didn’t spend more than 35 Euros. The food was very good, often grilled and consisted of mostly fresh fish and high quality meats. We tried Portuguese stews and salt cod. Both were delicious.

The subway system was amazing and rivaled the Metro in Washington DC or Paris. Except for Graffiti, it was clean, modern, on time, and quiet. For a country with a weak economy and low wages, they had an excellent infrastructure. I wonder what Boston would be like if our Portuguese decedents ran the city instead of the those from the British isles. We might have a subway system that people actually wanted to use.

I am including pictures many of the sites we visited. Many of these sites are from monuments and plazas in the city’s center. Others are from historic sites such as museums and palaces. I hope you enjoy them.

The following is a picture of an elevator in the Chiado section of Lisbon that is used to move people to the top of a nearby hill. The elevator base is in downtown and top has a ramp walkway that exits at the top of the hill.

Many of the preserved historical buildings in Lisbon are churches. The government did not spend money of perserving sites until the 20th century.

Below is one of the many plazas in downtown Lisbon. All of the plazas have statues, fountains, or historical plaques.

Another well preserved church.

Below is the city as seen from City castle that is built on a hill high above the city.

City viewed from a plaza over looking the Lisbon Harbor

More pictures will follow shortly of some of the palaces and museums.